The Girls Falling For Him
Monday morning, I woke up to Lee Yu-ri's KakaoTalk alarm.
Cute.
It looked like Yu-ri had genuinely woken up early to prepare a lunchbox for me. Gratitude, how adorable she was, and a pang of guilt—all kinds of emotions swirled together inside me.
I washed up in a rush, threw on my clothes, and headed to the front of her house. There she stood in a black blazer, white dress shirt, red tie, and checkered skirt, a small wrapped bundle in her hands.
When she spotted me, Yu-ri waved. We met up and walked to school together, the motion feeling completely natural.
"Is that the lunchbox for me? What's inside?"
"I just threw whatever in. Don't expect much... I really just slapped it together!"
"Heh, yeah, I figured."
"What? Why are you laughing?"
"Because you're cute."
"C-cute...! Ah, what are you even saying? It's so annoying when you act all relaxed like that! Take it! I'm leaving!"
Yu-ri jumped in a fit and roughly shoved the lunchbox at me. The second I took it she stormed ahead with exaggerated angry steps, but I could tell her heart wasn't in the tantrum or the way she tried to leave me behind. The proof came when I immediately caught up and fell into step beside her again—she didn't speed up at all.
"Sulking?"
"No, I'm not."
"Aigoo~ You were so cute Saturday night when you were drunk and heading home, but now all your thorns are back out."
At my words Yu-ri froze, then looked at me with trembling eyes.
"W-what did I...? I-I don't remember any of it...?"
"Yeah, I thought that might be the case. It's not easy to get that drunk off three shots of soju. How'd you manage it?"
"I don't know! I don't know, okay! Since I don't remember, stop talking about it!"
Yu-ri didn't meet my eyes even once the rest of the way to the academy.
Even though she'd been drunk and loose, she remembered every word clearly. And she had willingly prepared a morning lunchbox for the man who'd told her he liked her.
Just like Han Seong-jin said, it was practically newlywed behavior... 'Ah, no!'
Yu-ri shook her head violently.
It's not because I like him that I'm taking care of him! It's only because that guy who can't afford tuition keeps stubbornly insisting he doesn't need the support program, so as student council president I'm just showing the minimum consideration to a classmate in the same class...
But the moment she became conscious of it again, facing Han Seong-jin became terrifying, and her heartbeat only quickened.
It was still earlier than usual, so almost no one was at the academy yet. Before going into the classroom we headed for the flower bed beside the playground and sat on the bench there. Last time we'd eaten in the classroom from the morning and ended up with even more after-school cleaning duty as punishment, so we'd decided to eat here first.
When I opened the lid, steaming white rice appeared along with Vienna sausages, stir-fried anchovies, seasoned greens, kimchi—everything a proper meal needed.
The menu was almost identical to the last lunchbox she'd made, but the small difference was...
"What's this?"
She'd used black beans to draw a ☆ on top of the rice.
Even though it was still early spring, Yu-ri was sweating bullets as she avoided my eyes.
"You even decorated it for me? That's cute."
"It's not! I-I just had some beans left over..."
"Then you could've just tossed them on. Why go to all the trouble of making a star shape?"
"That's... because it would look a little insincere otherwise, so..."
I let out a small laugh and ruffled Yu-ri's hair. Normally she would've thrown a fit, but the way she was acting told me it was okay.
"Hey, why is everything you do so damn cute?"
"Hiiik! W-why are you patting my head?! And don't just say stuff like that!"
"Didn't like hearing it?"
"......"
Her silence at the question told me she didn't entirely hate it. We'd already crossed quite a few lines. Still, pushing any further here might drop her favorability again, so I stopped and quickly polished off Yu-ri's handmade lunchbox.
While I ate, she stayed right beside me, quietly watching me enjoy the food she'd prepared.
"Ahh~ That hit the spot. I was starving to death, but you saved me."
"Was it good?"
"Yeah. I'd love to eat this every day."
The remark could be taken multiple ways, and Yu-ri's face flushed bright red again as she snatched the empty container away. This girl really was easy to read once you paid attention.
"Who said I'd make it every day?! Only until your part-time paycheck comes in. After that, don't even ask!"
"Just hand me the container. I'll wash it and bring it back like last time."
"I'll wash it myself. If you're done eating, let's go inside."
After our not-really-a-date morning date with Yu-ri, we walked into the classroom together. Our classmates trickled in one by one, and of course Gong Yeong-bae soon appeared as well.
The moment I saw him I felt the urge to punch that bastard a few times, but doing so would only make things harder for Yu-ri, so I held back from causing a scene. Instead, I decided to provoke him the second he sat down. His seat was conveniently two rows in front of mine, so I didn't even have to raise my voice.
"Hey, Yu-ri. Come here a sec."
"Ah, what now?"
The way I casually called her and how she obediently came over made Gong Yeong-bae flinch. He didn't turn his head to look, but he was definitely listening to every word.
Fucking bastard. How dare you make my woman cry. Choke on this.
"Next time we go to an escape room café, want to try a thriller theme?"
"What?! No way! I thought I was going to die last time, and you want something even scarier?"
"Hmm, but it was so damn cute watching. All that screaming and crying and clinging and linking arms—it was a whole event."
I glanced sideways at Gong Yeong-bae while I spoke and saw his whole body shaking. But what could trembling do for him?
Meanwhile Yu-ri's face turned so red it looked like steam would pour out as she jumped up.
"W-when did I ever do that?!"
"Hmm? If you don't remember, we can always go to the horror-themed escape room one more time—"
"Waaaah! Waaaah! Okay, okay! I did it! I did, so don't pick the horror theme!"
"Finally being honest. Then I'll look up escape rooms later... How about DDR instead?"
"Yeah! I like that! It's good exercise and super fun."
When I brought up the moment she'd been most excited during our weekend date, she nodded with a bright, childlike smile.
"But do you have money?"
"Ahem, that's actually the thing. Places like escape rooms are expensive, so it'll be hard until my paycheck comes in... We'll have to fill the time with stuff like DDR for now?"
"I'm good with that. Oh, and air hockey looked fun too. How about that? Coin karaoke as well! It was cheap. Next time I'll treat!"
"Already planning next weekend's date? Isn't our president falling for me a little too hard?"
"Aah, there you go again! Seriously, everything I say you twist it that way! Fine, if you're done talking I'm going back!"
Yu-ri pouted and walked off again. Even though she knew Gong Yeong-bae was sitting just two rows ahead, she spoke about our weekend date and next plans without the slightest hesitation. It was like she was treating him as invisible. They say a woman's grudge can bring frost in May, but the sheer blatancy with which she ignored his existence was almost scary. Her anger toward Gong Yeong-bae must have run that deep.
But Gong Yeong-bae—this was all just the karma from hoarding girls' affection while never wanting to give them a real answer, wasn't it? Once Yu-ri fully becomes my woman, I'll introduce you two properly.
He still had no idea that Yu-ri's heart had already been stolen by Han Seong-jin to an enormous degree.
From today until Thursday I had part-time shifts scheduled again. Four straight days of being insanely busy meant I needed to sleep hard during class to stockpile stamina...
That plan shattered the instant morning assembly began.
"Han Seong-jin!"
The homeroom teacher called my name with a face full of fury. Every student's eyes instantly locked onto me.
"You skipped the entire afternoon on Friday? The semester only started a month ago—what the hell do you think you're doing!"
"Sorry."
Yu-ri, sitting front and center in the middle row, stared at me in shock. She hadn't known I'd ditched.
"Haah, I can't take this anymore... Han Seong-jin, starting today you're on after-school cleaning duty and morning chores for two full weeks."
"Huh?! T-teacher, wait! After academy I have a part-time job right in the afternoon—"
"Quiet. You shouldn't have left early without permission. And Yu-ri, you need to submit that hospital diagnosis if you have one. You know that, right?"
"...... Teacher."
Having overheard that I worked afternoons, Yu-ri glanced at me, then at the teacher, and raised her hand. Because she was such a model student, the teacher answered her in a far gentler tone than he'd used on me.
"Yes, what is it?"
"... I... don't have a diagnosis. I was actually faking it. I'm sorry."